RS800G3 System Now Available with GPS for Measuring Speed and Distance Across All Sports

Salt Lake City, UT. (August 08, 2007) – Polar, the leader in heart rate monitoring and fitness assessment technology, today announced at the Outdoor Retailer Show the nation-wide availability of the RS800G3 multisport training system, the most comprehensive planning and analysis tool for athletes who train across multiple disciplines.

The RS800G3 multisport training system’s integrated view helps athletes plan their training, measure their body’s response, and then analyze their performance against personal goals. By providing the data that helps athletes avoid over- and under-training, the system helps users train in the most efficient manner possible to achieve peak performance and fitness.

Polar’s RS800 training system was initially launched with the s3 stride sensor for runners in the fall of 2006. With the introduction of the G3 GPS (global positioning system) Sensor to the system, the new RS800G3 multisport training system enables athletes to measure speed and distance for a variety of outdoor sports including running, cycling, kayaking, hiking, canyoneering, in-line skating, cross-country and downhill skiing.

The RS800G3 multisport training system is comprised of the RS800 wrist unit, Wearlink® W.I.N.D. heart rate transmitter, ProTrainer 5™ software and the G3 GPS Sensor. Athletes who already own an RS800 Training system can purchase the G3 GPS Sensor separately as an accessory.

Incorporating the SiRFstarIII™ chipset, the G3 GPS Sensor talks wirelessly to the RS8000 providing excellent coverage and optimal power consumption. A single AA battery provides up to 15 hours continual use. The G3 GPS Sensor is also water resistant and weighs only 80 grams (including battery), making it compact and built to withstand training in the harshest conditions, typical of many extreme adventure sports.

“As cross-training and sports like adventure racing continue to grow, the RS800G3 training system gives multisport athletes the versatility and support they need to train in any environment or terrain – all while still getting speed, distance and the wealth of training intelligence Polar is known for,” said Jeff Padovan, President of Polar Americas. “The RS800G3 reflects our commitment to meeting the needs of every kind of athlete, regardless of how or where they train.”

Polar’s ProTrainer 5™ software, which is included in the complete multisport system allows an athlete to be involved in every step of the training process. This includes creating up to three weeks of workouts, to downloading insightful graphs to track performance and stay on-target with training goals. In addition, the RS800G3 multisport training system’s wrist unit serves as a digital personal trainer, guiding an athlete through detailed workouts.

How the G3 GPS Sensor differs from the s3 Stride Sensor™

The G3 GPS Sensor can be worn on the arm, attached to a belt, or even carried on top or inside a back pack. Movement in outdoor activities is tracked by GPS technology, which provides speed and distance data.

The s3 Stride Sensor, which can be used both outdoors and indoors, attaches to the shoe and uses sophisticated sensors to track the position of the foot, giving highly accurate speed, distance, leg cadence and stride length measurements.

Effective training and exercise means knowing how often and how hard to train. In its most basic form, a heart rate monitor is like a rev counter for your body, giving you a precise measurement of your exercise intensity. Different intensities bring different benefits, and following a well balanced plan will result in greater improvements in a shorter time. Simply put, whether you are planning to compete in a world championship event or are just looking to maintain a basic level of health and fitness, the unique and personal information a heart rate monitor provides will help you get the most from your efforts, remain on track, and stay motivated.

The principles of heart rate-based training may not have changed since 1982 when Polar introduced the very first wireless heart rate monitor, but the technology has evolved in leaps and bounds. Measuring more than beats per minute, Polar products can now sense changes in the autonomic regulation of your heart beat (such as changes caused by a lack of sleep, post-training fatigue, jet lag, illness, etc) and will automatically guide you to exercise at the optimum intensity for your current physical condition.

Polar takes the complexities of exercise physiology and creates simple features that make safe and effective training possible for everyone. For coaches and serious athletes, complete training solutions incorporate heart rate and recovery, performance, technique and environmental measurements (e.g. speed, distance, cadence, power, altitude etc.) along with PC software to provide the precise planning and analysis needed to achieve top performance.

Dean Karnazes says, “Comfort, convenience and quick gratification - the Big Three of the middle-class American lifestyle - are not making us happy and we should seek out more suffering. “Dostoyevsky had it right: ‘Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness,’ ” Is that a little extreme or is that observation right on the money? We are for the most part quite comfortable, everything is pretty convenient and we are always looking for quick gratification. Is that why we are the fattest country in the world and now rank 41st in longevity - our life spans having shortened considerably in the last 20 years.

Is that motivation to exercise and eat right? I don’t know. Does it take looking in the mirror every day or a nagging spouse or your doctor’s warnings to get you motivated? I don’t know. I don’t need motivation. I am motivated and always have been. As a runner for 40 years, I am still motivated to run fast times and long distances and I get plenty of positive feedback from my Polar heart rate monitor every time that I work out.

Polar makes getting motivation from positive feedback as simple as putting a Polar FS1 on your wrist and going out the door for your daily walk. In no time, you will determine whether you are walking in an effective heart rate training zone to make your walks worthwhile and in a matter of just a few weeks, you will see that your heart rate is lower on your walk showing you that your heart muscle is getting stronger.

Will losing weight motivate you to keep exercising? Weight loss isn’t rocket science and doesn’t require fad diets or pills. Weight loss is math - if you burn 3,500 calories more a week, eat 3,500 calories less a week or burn more calories and eat less calories in any combination that totals 3,500 calories, you will lose 1 pound. Make it 7,000 calories and you will lose 2 pounds. Put a Polar F4 or Polar F6 or any model of Polar heart rate monitor on your wrist that has the Polar OwnCal feature and you will know your calories burned in every activity that you do. Seeing your calories burned and losing weight would be motivating, wouldn’t it?

If you are satisfied with less than optimal health, poor quality of life and the prospect of a shorter lifespan, then you don’t need motivation to exercise and eat right. Comfort, convenience and quick gratification are all that you need. But if you strive for change in your life and want positive reinforcement that what you are doing is working as motivation, then buy a Polar heart rate monitor. It will be the most cost effective investment that you have ever made to motivate and guide you to optimum fitness and health

Or more precisely, where has Rich been? With only 24 posts, it is a sad commentary on how life’s struggles can overshadow life’s passions. As a Polar heart rate monitor user for over 20 years, I probably love the product and know the product better than just about anyone. But supporting your family selling even the best product has its challenges in the troubling times that we face.

Where’s Rich? Well you will soon be able to track his runs and see how he uses his Polar heart rate monitor to maximize the effective and enjoyment of every workout that he does.

Stay tuned - there is much, much more to come…

Activity

Route:

– 4 shady loops

Elev. Avg:

5,600 feet

Location:

Albuquerque Academy, NM

Elev. Gain:

75 feet

Date:

08/13/07

Up/Downhill:

[+0/-0]

Time:

04:45 PM

Difficulty:

1.0

Performance

Distance:

5.00 miles

Time:

0:45:48

Speed:

6.5 mph

Pace:

9:09 /mi

Heart Rate:

120 bpm (Avg)

Calories:

387

132 bpm (Peak)

Notes

The temperature at the start was 98 and 96 at the finish, so I chose a shady route. My average cadence was 84, my stride length was 3 feet 5 inches and my running index was 64

I have the Polar S625X and I could not be more pleased with it. It is a heart monitor and distance tracker which uses a fot pod. All the specs and info can be found at Polar’s website. I trained for my first marathon using it and it helped me run at my recommended pace. I also used it during the marathon and it was a huge help. I highly recommend it if you are looking for both heart rate monitoring and distance tracking.

Another thing I like about the Polar over the Forerunner (which I also have) is that you can use it while you run on the treadmill. I like keeping a log of all my runs and the software that comes with the Polar is pretty good too. If you don’t really care about logging it with the software the RS200sd will do most of the things the S625X can do minus uploading to your computer. But from what I hear you can upload the data to the polar website. Hope this helps.

There are two pages of discussion in this particular forum, most of it discussion about which HRM to get.

Here’s an interesting observation for those of you in the market for one that has upload capability: the software that comes with the HRM is not the same, actually not even close.

The software that comes with the Polar 625X is about a hundred times better than any other software that comes with the Garmin or Suunto HRM’s.

While many of you in the market may not be considering upload capability as an important feature, I’d like to respectfully suggest you consider this: training causes incremental improvements over time, so if you want to see in any meaningful way what your training is doing, graphs that show results in graphic form over weeks, months and even years is where it’s at.

Whether you go to the gym and do aerobics, do strength training workouts, use any number of different machines at the gym, walk or swim, there is a Polar heart rate monitor for fitness that is just right for you. To make your selection easier, Polar provides a fitness heart rate monitor comparison chart. To see and use the comparison chart, please click here. Also please note that the Polar F4 male is not available in the U.S. market

Kempele, Finland - In 1977 Professor Seppo Säynäjäkangas founded a company to pioneer the development, manufacture and marketing of wireless heart rate monitors for sports professionals. Now, three decades later, Polar Electro celebrates its 30th anniversary as the brand of choice amongst the world’s top athletes and is behind some of the greatest sporting achievements of our time.

Core to Polar’s success is the combination of expertise in electronics, computer sciences and physiology with a deep understanding of customer needs. An unparalleled level of knowledge and experience, gained from 30 years of research and development, coupled with a steadfast determination to continually deliver the most advanced products makes the company truly unique. Continued…

Kempele, Finland - Polar Electro, pioneer and leading innovator of sports instruments and heart rate monitors, announced today the signing of a partner agreement with the Finnish Biathlon Association that will see Finland’s top national biathlon team use the RS800 system exclusively in training and competition.

Perfect for high intensity endurance sports like biathlon, the RS800 training system will prove an indispensable tool in helping the Finnish team prepare for races. In-built features, such as real-time R-R display and OwnOptimizer, provide the athletes with very clear indications of their recovery status and training effectiveness which is essential in guiding them to safely push for maximum fitness. Continued…